


Normally Strange

by LovelySheree



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 011 - Freeform, 11 - Freeform, El - Freeform, F/M, Lumax, MikexEl, MikexEleven, Mileven, Multi, One-Shot, Oneshot, eleven - Freeform, one shots, oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2019-12-26 02:57:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18274391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelySheree/pseuds/LovelySheree
Summary: Yeah, they live a pretty weird life, but they're use to it. It's normally strange for them, and they're perfectly fine with that.This is a series of one-shots centered around the party and or Mileven (Mainly centered around Mileven).





	1. Mike, who was The Mystery Girl?

Mike, who was The Mystery Girl?

Mike hadn’t been this annoyed in a while, and he wore a tight frown as he walked the halls of junior high.Frankly, it was none of their business, but they continued to ask anyway.And “they” meaning _everyone._ The whole damn school seemed to be on his case.If they didn’t have the nerve to ask him themselves, they were whispering and asking each other.This, of course, inevitably led to a _lot_ of gossip.

“I heard she’s from out of town.”

“That makes sense, I didn’t recognize her.”

“I heard she did it as a favor.”

“She was so quiet and weird.”

“I bet she’s mute and couldn’t say no.”

“I heard they’re cousins.”

“ _Gross,_ didn’t they kiss?”

“Yeah.Go figure, right?He’s a freak, a nerd, _and_ a creep.”

_Just ignore them,_ he told himself bitterly.What was the big deal anyway?Practically _everyone_ was dancing with someone.Lucas and Max were dancing and no one was talking about that.Will was dancing with someone, but apparently that seemed of little interest as well.Hell, _Nancy,_ his _sister,_ and a _senior_ at Hawkins High was dancing with _Dustin._ Yet everyone kept talking about Mike Wheeler and The Mystery Girl.

He’d say he regretted bringing El to the Snow Ball, but honestly, he couldn’t regret it if he tried.That night was… _perfect._ Having her back in his world, seeing her with everyone else, it almost made her come to life even _more._ Sometimes it felt as if she was just a figment of his imagination before, but now, after the snow ball, she felt so _so_ real. 

However, the smile that had crept onto Mike’s face soured into a frown. _Maybe a little_ too _real,_ he thought, still overhearing the terrible attempts at whispers from the kids in the hallway. 

“Hey Wheeler!” Mike stopped his trek to his locker and turned to see one of his classmates, David. 

“What do want?” Mike ask, having little patience for conversation at the moment, and even less patience for the boy who stood in front of him. 

David held his hands out in front of him, giving Mike a look between offense and annoyance.“Hey, I’m just here to ask a question,” he said, pushing his blond hair away from his face.

Mike sighed, shifting his weight from one foot to the next, “Well?” he asked, looking at David expectantly.

“I saw you dancing with a girl at the Snow Ball,” he said, crossing his arms and eyeing Mike suspiciously.

_I’m afraid I can’t say the same,_ Mike wanted to retort, but bit his tongue. 

David was a clean-cut, pretty boy.He came from a good home, he was polite to those he felt he needed to be polite to and he had a natural ease talking to people.It made him _quite_ the catch—or so, that’s what he always hears the girls in his class say.So when he saw David and a few other boys off in a corner talking to one another, it surprised him. _The_ David without a date?Then again, to Mike, David had always felt uninteresting, and it didn’t help that the blond boy had a habit of picking on Dustin and Lucas, so he didn’t get what others saw in him.But no matter how much he wanted to stick it to David for being an insensitive mouth-breather, he wasn’t gonna use his dance with El as some kind of twisted, social leverage.She didn’t deserve to be looked at like a trophy.She had probably gotten plenty of that from the lab.

“What’s it to you?” he decided to ask, gripping the shoulder straps of his backpack.

David rolled his eyes, scoffing out a short burst of laughter.“You’re so suspicious, you know that?I’m just _curious,_ Wheeler.We all wanna know who she is, everyone’s talking about it.”

“Yeah?Well they should quit being so nosey,” he quipped, turning around and walking away.

“Hey!Is it true she’s your cousin?” David called after him.

“She’s _not_ my cousin!” Mike yelled as he continued down the hall, not bothering to turn around.

Despite Mike’s occasional objections to the rumors, they continued to spread, but he continued to care less and less.So what?It’s not like he wasn’t already used to this stuff. 

And come summer, when the little town of Hawkins, Indiana was introduced to Jane Hopper, the rumors slowly faded as they came to understand that Jane very much liked Mike, and Mike very much liked Jane.Nothing suspicious about it.

Right?


	2. I Don't Think He's Handsome, YOU Are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was based off a prompt sent to me on tumblr... hope you enjoy!

Mike watched as El sat with her assigned lab partner.  Of  _course_ the teacher had to make the partners  _assigned._ Because why  _wouldn’t_ they be assigned.  And now El, his  _girlfriend,_ was sitting with some hot-shot and  _not by him._

It wasn’t jealousy.   _Really,_ it wasn’t.  In fact, Mike would prefer jealousy over whatever he was dealing with right now because he didn’t  _know_ what he was feeling.  Mike breathed a shot breath through his nose, a quiet show of frustration. He wasn’t angry.  He  _felt_ angry, but that wasn’t it.  He wasn’t jealous.  He wasn’t annoyed.  What  _was_ it?  

He heard his partner try and talk to him, but Mike only nodded numbly in response.  He didn’t have the energy to involve himself in this assignment right now. Besides, they had the rest of the week to complete it.

 _The rest of the week,_ he thought bitterly.  The rest of the week to watch El with this pretty boy.  What was his name again?  Chad?  Brad?  Tony? He looked like a Tony.  Damn Tony.

He watched as El gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.  She turned to  _Tony_ and gave a small smile, nodding and then turning to write something down in her notebook.  Mike sighed, she looked so pretty, so beautiful _,_ so…  _perfect_.  She could have any guy in the school she wanted—

 _Any guy like Tony,_ he thought bitterly.  

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her.  He trusted her with his life!  But El was so pretty and beautiful and kind and sweet and perfect.  And he was so…  _not_  those things.  There was a small part of Mike, or perhaps a  _large_ part of Mike, that believed El deserved better. Deserved someone more handsome. More  _everything._

It wasn’t jealousy.  It wasn’t anger.  It wasn’t annoyance, obsession, or possessiveness.  

Was it fear?  Was it insecurity?

Class went by at a terribly slow pace.  Mike tried his best to divert his attention from El and to his assignment and Lab partner, but he found the task to be more difficult than he imagined.  When the bell  _finally_ rang, he sat up, grabbed his backpack, and slowly made his way to El’s desk.  A sour feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he approached, but he tried his best to ignore it.  

He could overhear  _Tony_ talking to El in a light and chipper tone, mentioning something about looking forward to the project.  El turned around, however, when she felt Mike walking up, her eyes bright and warm and welcoming.  For a moment, Mike’s world froze.  Her eyes were so happy to see him with her hand coming up to wave.  He let himself soak the moment in, a glorious moment where El only seemed to notice him, and he could only notice her.

“Hey,” she smiled, reaching out to fix the collar of his shirt.

“Hey,” He smiled back.

“Hey,” a third voice interrupted and that same sour feeling flooded Mike stomach again.

Mike turned to  _Tony_ and nodded.  “Hey, uh…” 

“ _Rob,_ ”  _Tony_ had said.  So his name was Rob _. Still looks like a Tony,_  Mike thought.

“Rob,” Mike gave a nervous smile, “Nice to meet you.”

Rob smiled, “Pleasure’s mine,” he said.  He looked to El and waved “See you tomorrow,” he said, then turned around and left.  Mike watched as Rob left, feeling a mixture of silliness, pettiness, and frustration left in his wake.

He felt a soft hand touch his shoulder.  “Something wrong?” El asked worriedly.

“What?  No, just tired,” he brushed her question off.  “Ready for lunch?  Dustin’s mom made some cookies and he said he’d bring some for us.”

El frowned at him but nodded anyway.  They left the classroom with El closely on Mike’s heels.  “Are you sure you’re just tired?” she asked when they had gotten to a quieter area in the hallways, less crowded by students. 

“Yeah,” he responded shortly.  He really didn’t want to think about it.

“You don’t seem tired.”

“Well I  _am_ tired.”

“Do you want to talk about something?”

“ _Jesus,_ El.  I said I was tired, okay?” he snapped at her.  He didn’t  _mean_ to snap at her, but he  _really_ didn’t want to think about it.  He didn’t want to  _ever_ think about it.  He didn’t want to think about losing her again.  Not to an interdimensional crisis, a monster, the government, and  _definitely_ not to another more qualified guy.

They stood there in the hallway with Mike standing in front of her, his back to her.  He could feel her eyes staring at the back of his head.  

“You’re angry,” she stated. 

Mike shook his head, “No, I’m not angry El.” And he wasn’t angry.  It wasn’t that.

“Then what is it?” she asked, walking close and grabbing his hand to turn him around.

He looked at her.  Her eyes were less bright, dulled by worry, but they were just as warm and welcoming.  He was  _so_ tempted to get swept up in them again, it would be so  _easy_ to believe that…  “I’m not angry, El, I promise.  It’s just…” he sighed, “Look, you could have any guy in the school, alright?  And you know, we’re together and I trust you but… do you even like me anymore?  Now that I’m not the only option?”

“Mike—”

“You’re so amazing El, like  _really_ amazing, okay?  You could have  _anyone,_ I mean that.   And I—I won’t be angry if you choose someone else, alright?  I won’t.  I’d get it. You could have someone like Tony, he seemed nice and polite, and he’s definitely more handsome—”

“ _Mike,_ ” El tightened her grip on his hand, “What are you  _talking_ about?  And who’s Tony?”

“Your lab partner, Tony.”

“His name’s Rob,” she corrected.  

“Right,  _Rob._ I won’t be mad if you choose him, I understand.  He seems good looking and, well…” Mike said, looking away from her.   _You deserves better,_ he thought.

El stepped closer to him, reaching up and gently grabbing his face.  She leaned upwards on her toes, guiding his face downwards, and gave him a soft, light kiss.  “Michael Wheeler,” she said, holding him there as her heels fell back to the ground, feet flat.  “I don’t think he’s handsome.   _You_ are.  I think you’re the most handsomest person I’ll ever meet,” she smiled. 

His heart  _swelled._ Oh, how he loved the perfect person who stood in front of him.  Oh, how he loved everything about her.  But he had trouble believing her. 

“You still deserve better,” he said, still looming over her, her hands still gently holding his face.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” she shook her head.  “Mike, you’re  _perfect._ I don’t think I could ever get over you, much less willingly let you go.  I thought I already told you,” she said, leaning up and kissing him again.  “You won’t lose me.  I promised.”

He pulled her closer, ignoring the insecurity that plagued his mind, and leaned into her kiss.  Into this beautiful moment.  Into this beautiful girl.  “You promise you’re not just saying that?” he asked, breathy and quiet.

“I  _promise._ I don’t even want to imagine my world without you,” she said, pulling away and grabbing his hand.  “Now come on, I want those cookies Dustin’s mom made.”

And so he followed her, his hand holding hers, wondering how he had gotten so lucky.  And if he could read minds, he’d know that El was wondering that very same thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for stopping by and reading! ;)
> 
> Find me on tumblr: @LovelySheree


	3. Why Don't We Kiss Like That?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand another prompt that was sent to me :D
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The question had been sitting on the tip her tongue for a while now.  During every conversation, during any quiet moment—every waking moment of the past two days—El had been close to tipping over and spilling.  She  _really_ wanted to know, but the question felt very odd to ask.  No, odd was the wrong word.  Weird?  Awkward? Yes,  _awkward_.

It all started when she and her friends went to the movie theater.  The movie was hard for El to follow (something about a teenage boy and an old man going somewhere?), but she enjoyed it nonetheless.  When they finished the movie, they had all gathered at the entrance of the theater where they had parked their bikes.  El waited for Mike to stand his up and stabilize so she could ride on the back.

Over the hustle and quiet drone of their conversation, she heard Dustin groan.  “ _God,_ do they have to be so  _public_?” he asked.

El saw Mike whip his head towards Dustin with a sour look of annoyance.  “ _Hey,_ El’s still learning how to ride a bike!  I’m just giving her a ride—”

“No not  _you_ lovebirds,” Dustin waved off Mike.  “ _Them,_ ” he gestured towards the outside wall of the theater.   

El turned to see what Dustin was referring to, her eyes wide-open and curious, and then she saw it.  Two older teens leaned against the wall, kissing.  But not just normal kissing.   _Kissing like the movies,_ El thought, her eyebrows raised as they scanned the scene before her.  She had seen this kissing before.  This was the kind of kissing that happened on the shows she’d watch.  The kind of kissing that made her heart race for a reason she didn’t really understand. But she thought that kind of kissing was  _just_  in the movies, _just_ in her shows, it wasn’t  _real._ Hopper said it himself, the TV she watches was just for entertaining, it was like the movie they just watched—it doesn’t ever happen in real life. 

But here she was,  _witnessing it._ Witnessing the kind of kissing that she would think about.  The kind of kissing that seemed thrilling and exciting.  The kind of kissing that set her skin on fire somehow.  The kind of kissing that was—

“Gross,” Mike mumbled from beside her.  She turned to see him fumbling with his kickstand and straightening out his bike. His cheeks were dusted a shade of pink, his eyebrows knitted together.   _Oh…_ she thought soberly,  _gross_.  El quietly watched as the rest of the group hopped onto their bikes, some laughing at Dustin’s outburst, other’s grumbling their agreements.   _The kind of kissing that was gross,_ she thought.  She felt her stomach drop and her chest deflate,  _Gross,_ she repeated.  She slid onto the back of Mike’s bike, and in a blur, the night had ended. 

And now El sat on the edge of the edge of the table in Mike’s basement, two days later.  She was keeping him company as he worked on the newest campaign for another Dungeons and Dragons playthrough.  As she watched, the question  _plagued_ her.  It practically taunted her as it sat behind her lips just ready to burst out at any moment. She picked at her finger beds nervously while the words swirled rapidly inside her mind.   _Why don’t we kiss like that?_

“Hey, can I run this idea by you?  It’s—” Mike began, looking up from the paper he was scribbling ideas down on, although El barely noticed.  “El?” he asked again, worryingly curious. 

She hummed a response, turning to give him a small smile.  

“You seemed distracted,” he observed, looking down at his paper and then back at El.  A sudden look of panicked understanding flashed across his face.  “Oh, shit—I’m sorry, you’re probably bored!  I, uh, I can stop working on this now, we can do something else if you want.  God El, I’m so sorry I just got swept up in the campaign and all and I didn’t even  _think_ that you probably don’t wanna waste your time down here with me just  _watching_ me write—”

“—Why don’t we kiss?” she blurted out.  For the record, she hadn’t been  _planning_ on asking that, not now at least.  But it had been under her tongue for so long that when she opened her mouth to tell Mike to calm down, that she  _wanted_ to be here, that she  _wasn’t_ bored but just distracted, well… it just toppled right out.

Mike recoiled, dropping his pencil and looking away from her.  His face looked heated, pink and rosy and embarrassed.  “W-what do you mean, El?  I—we—um… we  _kiss._ We, uh, we just don’t do it, um, all the time b-because it’s inappropriate.  Remember what Hopper said?” Mike asked, fidgeting nervously in his chair.  El  _did_ remember what Hopper said, but that’s not what she meant.

She sighed, she had asked it all wrong.  “No, I don’t mean kissing, I mean kissing like…” she crossed her arms tightly over her chest, suddenly nervous.  “I mean the kind of kissing that’s,” she paused, remembering everyone’s response that night to the couple.   _The kind of kissing that’s gross,_  she told herself.

With a sigh, she gave him a strained smile.  “Nevermind, I’m just being… stupid.”

Mike shook his head, “You’re not stupid, El.”

They sat there in a pocket of silence.  She felt Mike train his gaze back onto her, but she kept her eyes focused on the ground. She felt Mike reach out towards her and grab her hand.  The movement was slow, gentle, and intentional.  “You mean, um,” he starts, but then pulls his hand back and holds it in his lap.  “You mean the kind of kissing the couple outside of the theater was, uh…” he cleared his throat, “you mean  _that_ kind of kissing?

She looked at him and steeled herself.   _Yes,_ she almost groaned out, but nodded instead.

“Well, that kind of kissing is…” Mike runs a nervous hand down his face and then behind his head to scratch his neck.   “It’s, well it’s—”

“Gross?” El asked, worried her feeling of disappointment and shame would leak through her words.

Mike jolted up, “Gross? Not exactly… it’s just, I mean.  I guess it can be gross to  _watch._ But kids like us, uh, we don’t kiss like that.  It’s not—it’s just not smart.”

“Kids like us?” El echoed. 

“Yeah.  Only older people kiss like that.  It’s a different kind of kissing that can… lead to other things,” Mike said, trying to suggest something larger that El didn’t quite understand. 

“ _Other_ things?” she echoed him again. 

Mike nodded quickly, “Y-yeah,  _other_ things that we aren’t suppose to do yet and—and this is  _not_ a question I can answer.”

El’s eyes suddenly lit up in understanding, “ _Oh,_ ” she nodded, “Like sex.”

El heard a strangled squeak escape Mike as his head fell to the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for stopping by and reading!


	4. Sarah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El reflects on her life, Mike, and their daughter (Sarah takes a leap of faith).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little one-shot I've had on my mind for a bit... just domestic Mileven with their daughter.

Ever since _it_ all ended, she hadn’t used her powers much at all. She had no reason to.  Aside from pulling immature pranks back in high school with the party (primarily on Dustin), El’s use of her powers slowly started to take the back burner.  She’d only use them for simple things here and there, such as checking up on Mike, cleaning up around the house, or for heavy lifting and so forth.  (She’ll never forget the look on Stacey and Jennifer’s face when she beat the notorious teen’s time at rope-climb in record speed. Sometimes a little levitation can help stick it to the prevailing plastics of Hawkins High).

But that was _years_ ago, ten years in fact—not that she’s been counting—and the thespian day-to-day of high school drama was far behind her now.  She was an adult, a woman, a wife, a _mother_.  A lot had changed: This is the thought that brings her back to the reality in front of her, cradled crookedly in her arms and blissfully unaware of the previous impending danger from only a moment ago.

In hindsight, she and Mike really should have “baby-proofed” the house more.  Then again, she wasn’t expecting their six-month-old daughter to scale the stairs to the second floor and slide on through the safety railing at the top.  This, of course, all happened while she had gone to the kitchen to answer a phone call. She was new at this whole parenting thing and _completely_ unprepared, but even _she_ knew that _six-month-old babies do not climb stairs._ And Sarah was barely even _crawling._

_“—El? Everything okay?”_ a voice from the phone asked, cracking the frozen moment.

“Y-yeah, everything’s fine!” she hurriedly yelled towards the phone that had fallen to the ground. Balancing Sarah on her hip, she bent down to pick it up, puffing a few strands of stray hair away from her face as she stood back up.  “Mind if I call you back, Max?”

_“Uh, yeah sure—”_ but El didn’t care to hear the rest of her friend’s sentence as she ended the call.  She turned towards the infant in her arms who was greedily reaching for the stair railings. 

El sighed, walking towards the couch and placing the phone on the coffee table.  She arranged Sarah onto her lap as she sunk into the couch. “You,” she began in half-hearted accusation, “almost gave me a heart attack.”

Sarah looked back with wide eyes, a furrowed brow, and tightly pursed lips.  It was a look that, mixed with her dark eyes and hair and pale skin, made her look incredibly like her father.  _Who should be home by now,_ she thought, but brushed it off a moment after. 

A small, pudgy hand reached for her face and El didn’t resist.  Sarah’s eyebrows seemed to fold downwards even further, making her expression comical, and El would have laughed if she weren’t in a mild shock. Her daughter’s hand bumped against her chin as her little fingers reached up, brushing past her lips and landing just below her nose. 

“Thank you,” El spoke sarcastically from under Sarah’s miniature palm, “Your hand in my mouth has made me entirely forget about the fact that you _leapt_ from the second floor.”  Max once said that El had a “strange way of talking to babies.”  But years of growing up with Hopper meant that El had adopted a quick wit and a heavily sarcastic tone, even when talking to infants. 

Sarah gave a soft grunt of acknowledgement as she withdrew her hand from her mother’s face.  El watched curiously as her daughter’s expression loosened, shifting focus to her tiny fingertips.

Tiny _red_ fingertips. 

_Blood._

El lightly gasped, quickly leaning forward to grab a tissue from the box in front of her.  She mentally thanked Mike’s allergies and his incessant need for tissues this time of year.  She gingerly plucked one from the box and wiped Sarah’s hand, and then went to wipe her own nose.  It really _had_ been a while since she had used her powers. She normally wouldn’t have gotten a nose bleed for the move she pulled.

It had happened so fast.  She was walking back into the living room from the kitchen and noticed Sarah wasn’t on the quilt where her toys were still sprawled out.  When she turned around after hearing a light _thump,_ she watched in horror as little _six-month-old_ Sarah took a plunge towards the floor and she was too far away to catch her.  Well, catch her with her _hands,_ that is.  Honestly, her powers slipped out without much second thought.  It was instinctual, natural, second-nature—perhaps a mother’s instinct, even.  She reached out towards her falling daughter with her mind and stopped her mid-air. Sarah floated, frozen in mid-flight as El rushed forwards to grab her, dropping the phone in the process.

Which brings her to now, sitting on the couch, staring at her daughter with apprehensive relief. “I’ve only had to use my powers on the people I love a few times,” she said, sighing through her nose as she reached forward and brushed Sarah’s soft tufts of hair back.  “So, let’s not make a habit of this, okay?”

The front door jerked open, startling both El and the baby as Mike walked in, a bit frazzled. “Sorry I’m late,” he began, “I got the diapers and shampoo _ages_ ago, but I ran into Flo at the store and she got to talking and asking questions,” he said, dropping his keys in the bowl on the table near the front door. “You know, asking how you’re doing,” he said while shrugging off his coat, “And how the baby’s doing,” he continued with a sigh.

“And you just _love_ small-talk,” El giggled girlishly as Mike gave her a flat look.

“What I _love_ are my wife and daughter,” he said, walking towards them, “The sooner I could leave, the better.”

“Charmer,” El smiled as Mike leaned down to kiss her cheek and swoop up Sarah.

“I’m the complete package, I know,” Mike said dramatically while holding his daughter up to his face. “And good thing it’s genetic ‘cause you’re the complete package too, aren’tcha…” he grinned, his voice dipping into a cartoonish drawl.

El watched as Mike and their daughter smiled and laughed, a scene that El would’ve thought she could only wish for.  Then again, perhaps wish was the wrong word.  Had you asked Jane Hopper, now Jane Elanor Wheeler, if she saw herself with a family of her own ten years out of high school, she probably would have laughed.  A family of her own?  Preposterous. Sure, she and Mike loved each other, but becoming parents?  No way. Neither of them had _amazing_ experiences when it came to the subject of parents, so having children was honestly the last thing on their mind.  They may have been young then, but even after they had gotten married, it was clear they didn’t want to have kids for a while.

But some things are inevitable.  Six years into their marriage, Sarah was born.  A rather normal age to have children, yes, but again, Mike and El hadn’t even talked about the idea of having kids.  They were still enjoying the freedom of being young and freshly married. Although, that isn’t to say they weren’t happy when they found out.

As El watched her little family in front of her, she could practically _feel_ her heart swell with joy.  It felt so _perfect._  And of course it would feel perfect to finally start a family with the one you love.  Sometimes, she wonders if they should’ve thought of it sooner.

“El?” she heard Mike ask, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Hm?” she hummed in response.

“Did something happen?” he asked, nodding towards the coffee table where a few crumpled tissues lied.

Crumpled _bloody_ tissues.

El sighed, her shoulders falling and her head slowly shaking.  “Everything’s fine,” she said, a worried smile stretching across her features. “Sarah just decided to take a leap of faith and I had to catch her,” she looked up at Mike knowingly, “Seems being a ‘complete package’ isn’t the only thing you passed on.”

“Well I’ll be sure to educate her on the dangers of quarries,” Mike replied with an apologetic grin.  “What happened?  And are you sure you’re alright?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine— _we’re_ fine.  She climbed the stairs.”

“She _wha—_ the _stairs?_ She’s six months, how’d she manage that?” he asked, turning around to look up at the stairs behind them.

El sighed, “Believe me, I’m just as surprised as you.”

Mike turned to the baby in his arms and gave her an incredulous look.  “But you just started crawling, and suddenly you’re an expert climber?”  Sarah reached forwards to try and grab Mike’s nose, giggling when he made a silly face. “What are we going to do with you?” he asked, turning her around and setting her back on her El’s lap. 

“I’m gonna go put the diapers and other stuff away, then we can scrounge something up for lunch?” he asked her, walking towards the grocery bags he had set down by the door.

El nodded, standing up and moving Sarah to her hip.  “Sounds good,” she smiled, “I think we have some leftovers in the fridge that I can heat up.”

“Perfect,” he said as he walked past her, quickly kissing her cheek.  

She watched him walk away as he awkwardly managed the groceries and large diaper bag through the skinny hallway.  Sighing to herself, she looked down at Sarah kissed her forehead.  “Time for lunch,” she said, swiping Sarah’s hair to the side and off her brow.  “Which means _you,_ little missy, get to eat your favorite mushy peas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Don't be shy to stop by my Tumblr ;)


	5. A Perfect Little Word (Love)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very short reflection of El finding the perfect word.

 

She could never think of the right words.  Sometimes it felt like her tongue only sat in her mouth to prove itself useless.  She remembered the countless times she grew so incredibly frustrated with Hop that she couldn’t think of _any_ words to explain herself.  Because her anger always bubbled up in sharp abstractions, a feeling surrounding an idea that could never muster up the intelligence of thought. Of _words._ Of finite and defined explanation.  That’s why she always settled with screaming.  She assumed that’s why Hop screamed too. 

In fact, it was on rare occasion that she would feel entirely satisfied with her sentences.  In whatever net of words she’d hopelessly tie together, there always existed a rather large hole and her main point—that veiled idea—would fall right through.  People would try and help her, throwing out suggestions or trying their best to fill in the gaps.  But without a solid direction, El couldn’t blame them for failing miserably.  After all, words were hard.

That’s one of the reasons it felt so easy to be around Mike. With him, there were no words that _needed_ to be spoken.  When they talked, it was light and meaningless, casual and harmless.  Not that they didn’t have sincerity in their interactions—her relationship with Mike felt _anything_ but shallow—but its depth was warm and calm, never overwhelming but somehow _always_ overwhelming.  It was… big? Solid?  Whole?  Encompassing? No. 

Well, _yes,_ but also no.

So, when she heard Mike say those words, there was a satisfying _click_ in her brain.  As if all those halfhearted, half-meaningful, half-right words got smashed together into one larger and much better word.  “Because I _love her—_ ” he had said.  “Love.” 

What a perfect little word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I know this was SUPER short, but let me know your thoughts :) 
> 
> Also! I have so. Many. One-shots (that are much MUCH longer) in the making. It's honestly making my head spin at this point. They're all well over half-way done and it'll just take some time sitting down and writing but I've had z.e.r.o. time for that. Hopefully I'll get them done soon and you guys can read them! I've been drawing a bunch too so hopefully I'll finish those too and post 'em on my Tumblr ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr: @LovelySheree


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